Fluidized catalytic conversion process



Nov. 15, 1949 F. w. scHElNEMAN FLUIDIZED CATALYTIC CONVERSION PROCESS Nov. l5, 1949 F. w. scHElNEMAN 2,488,030

FLUIDIZED CATALYT'IC CONVERSION PROCESS Filed April 27, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 B @ma aff@ 67g Gfvgg.

Patented Nov. l5, 1949 FLUIDIZED CATALYTIC CONVERSION PROCESS Fred W. Scheineman, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Standard O il Company, Chicago, Ill., a corporation o! Indiana Application April 27, 1942, Serial 120,440,566

` 4 Claims. (Cl. ISG- 52) This yinvention trelates to a' method and apparatus for converting hydrocarbon oils by contacting the vapors thereof with porous, solid catalysts in a subdivided condition, suspended in vapors. It also relates to a method and apparatus for regenerating spent catalyst and for transl plication Serial No. 392,848 filed May 10, k1941 l and application Ser.vNo. 400,956, filed July 3, 1941. Certain of the features of apparatus and operation herein set forth are separately described and claimed in the following applications: Page Ser. No..376,'163, filed-January 31, 1941 and Gunness Ser. 1No. 400,958,111ed July 3, 1941. Related applications include Johnson Ser. Nos. 392,846-7, iiled May 10, 1.941k The copending application was directed to a unitary system with the reactor mounted above the regenerator or vice versa while the present application is directed tothe side by sidemounting of the reactor and regenerator which was-,taught by my copending application4 but not illustrated in the drawings thereof. f

An object of .my invention is to eliminate as far as possible the numerous contactors, separators and feeders employed heretofore in converting hydrocarbon oils with suspended catalyst thereby reducing the energy required to transfer catalyst from zone to zone and facilitating the use of high catalyst-to-oil ratios.

Afurther object is to utilize thepressure at the base of acontacting chamber or at the base of a standpipe depending therefrom, for injecting catalyst material ina gas or vapor stream entering an upperor intermediate point in another contacting chamber. Other objects will be apparent as the detailed description of the invention proceeds. c

In practicing my invention I pass a gas or vapor upwardly through a reactor, introduce regenerated catalyst at an intermediate or upper part of the reactor and withdraw catalyst from a low point in, said reactor, the return of catalyst and flow of gas or vapor being so regulated as to maintain a catalyst density within the reactor within the approximate range of to 25 pounds per cubic foot, for example about 18 pounds per cubic foot. With a relatively long reactor the pressure differential between the top and bottom maybe of the order of- 4 kto 12 pounds or more per square inch. Whenv catalyst is picked up in a gas stream from the base of this reactor or from a standpipe depending therefrom, the resulting catalyst dispersion may have a bulk density of only a few pounds per cubic foot or even less than one pound per cubic foot. This catalyst may thus be introduced at an intermediateor upper part of the regenerator through a transfer line by a gas lift `eilect. Similarly, the pressure differential from the top to the bottom of the regenerator may be about 4 to 12 pounds per square inch (since the suspended catalyst in the regenerator is at a bulk density of 10 to 25 pounds per cubic foot) and pressure head at the base of the regenerator serves to introduce catalyst from the base of the regenerator into a gas or vapor stream entering an upper or intermediate part of the reactor. While standpipes may be employed at the base of the reactor and the regenerator these standpipes may be relatively short and. in fact may be entirely dispensed with since the lower part of these vessels themselves act as a standpipe and may provide the necessary pressuring of the catalyst for effecting catalyst transfer.

The invention will be more clearly understood from the accompanying drawings which form a part of this specification and in which:

Figure 1 is a schematic iiow diagram illustrating a side by side mounting of the reactor and regenerator together with certain other accessories,

Figure 2 is a schematic flow diagram illustrating another arrangement of reactor-regenerator and accessories, and

Figure 3 is a schematic vertical section of still another modification of my invention illlustrating a preferred means for introducing catalyst into a reactor or regenerator and for withdrawing catalyst therefrom.

My process may be considered to be essentially a two chamber process. Contacting and separation` takes place simultaneously in the chambers and relatively low pressure differentials prevail,Y making it easy to transfer catalyst by gravity or in gas suspension.

Referring to Figure 1, tower I0 is a reaction chamber and in tower IIIA is a regeneration chamber mounted by the side thereof, the regeneration chamber usually being at least three or four times as large as the reaction chamber. I prefer to employ enlarged upper portions on both of said chambers to facilitate the settling of as much catalyst as possible from ascending gases and vapors and for thus decreasing the load on the centrifugal separators.

In operation, hydrocarbon oil feed stock. for

2,4eaoso example gas o il, is charged by line Il to furnace l2 where it is vapor-ized and the vapors are conducted at elevated temperature, e. g., 700 to 1050 F. through transfer line I3 leading to reaction zone I6 in the intermediate part of chamber or tower I0. The vapors may be admitted to the reaction zone by means of distributor I5.

The catalyst is introduced into the reaction zone by line I6 and one of the branch lines I6', I6" or IB'". The catalyst particles tend to remain in suspension in the dense" zone which extends from distributor I to the enlarged settling section in the upper part of tower I0. Above the dense zone there is a light disperse" zone in which most of the catalyst separates and settles from the ascending vapor stream back to the dense" zone. The hydrocarbon vapors are charged to the reaction zone at a sufficiently low rate to prevent the bulk of the catalyst from being carried out at the top of the reaction zone by Aoutlet Il leading to one or more centrifugal separators. This rate may be about 0.5 to 5 feet per second (linear velocity), depending on the size of the catalyst particles, density of catalyst, etc. For catalyst particles of about 1 to 100 microns in particle size this rate is preferably about 1 to 3 feet per second. In general, the catalyst in reaction zone Il will form a suspension whose density is about to 25 pounds per cubic foot in the lower dense zone and about 5 to 0.2 pounds per cubic foot or less in the upper or disperse catalyst zone. The catalyst gradually deposits in the quiescent zone at the bottom of the reaction chamber and accumulates about the cone I8 in a 'free-flowing form. The apex of this cone communicates through ducts I9, I9d and one of the branch lines ISd, ISd" and |9d" t0 a 10W point or preferably to an intermediate or upper point in regeneration zone 20. A part of the catalyst is accordingly continually transferred from the reaction zone to the regeneration zone and is replaced by other catalyst entering the reaction zone through line I6. Free-now of catalyst through ducts I9, I9d, etc. is assured by the introduction of aeration gas such as steam at I9a and I9b. This aeration gas also serves as a stripping medium to remove hydrocarbon vapors from the catalyst. Duct I9 may be a standpipe of variable length or it may be the base of cone I8 itself. Catalyst may be picked up from the base of duct or standipipe I9 by air introduced through line I9c, this air serving as a gas lift medium for returning catalyst through line I9d to an intermediate or upper part of regeneration zone 20.

In regeneration zone 20, carbon accumulated by the catalyst is burned off by means of a current of oxygen-containing gases, for example air, admitted by line 2|. This regeneration is highly exothermic and various means may be employed to control the temperature. It is generally desirable to maintain the temperature within the regeneration zone at about 1000 F. Gases leaving the upper part of the regeneration zone by line 22 are conducted to one or more cyclone separators 23 where most of the "carry over catalyst is removed and returned to the base of the regeneration zone through cooler 24 and line 25. In cooler 24 suiilcient heat is abstracted from the hot catalyst to-materially assist in controlling the temperature of the regeneration zone. If the catalyst from separator 23 is insuiiicient for obtaining this temperature control additional catalyst may be passed directly from the dense zone to the cooler through line 23a.

Spent regeneration gases leave the cyclone by line 26 and may be subjected to electrical precipitationor other separation to recover the remaining catalyst suspended therein which has escaped the cyclone 23. For this purpose an electrical precipitator may be used as shown at 21 and the catalyst recovered by this means may be returned by line 28 ,to regeneration zone 20. Fresh or regenerated ctalyst may of course be mixed with the fines recovered in the precipitator to facilitate handling and any suitable pressuring or injecting means (not shown) may be employed for returning the fines to the system. If desired, cooling coils (not shown) may be installed in regenerator 20 to carry away part of the heat of regeneration. Such coils may contain water. diphenyl, mercury or other fluid controller of heat which may be employed without decomposition at the elevated temperatures above mentioned.

Inasmuch as gravity flow is employed for conducting the spent catalyst from the base of the reactor through duct or standpipe I9, it is important that the pressure ln the bottom of this duct or standpipe be higher than the pressure in the regenerator at the point at which spent catalyst is introduced thereto. This pressure differential may have to be as high as 4 or 5 pounds per square inch but with carefully designed apparatus pressure differentials as low as about 1 pound per square inch may be employed with safety. The pressure in the bottom of standpipe I9 is the sum of the pressure at the top of the reactor plus the pressure head of catalyst in the reactor plus the pressure head of catalyst in the standpipe. Thus with a reactor about 30 feet high with a top pressure of about 6 pounds, the catalyst head in the reactor may be about 4 pounds so that the pressure at the base of the reactor may be about 10 pounds. With similar pressures prevailing in the regenerator it will thus be seen that when catalyst is introduced from the bottom of the reactor to an upper part of the regenerator no standpipe may be necessary Aai; the base of the reactor since the pressure head in line Ild may, by introducing a sufficient amount of air through line I9c, be only about 1 or 2 pounds per square inch. If it is desired to employ a greater catalyst density in line I9d I may employ a. standpipe I9 of suitable length for supplying the necessary pressure differential.

Spent catalyst is introduced from standpipe I9 (or directly from the cone bottom I8 of reactor I0) into the regenerator in amounts controlled by valve 29 which is regulated by manual or automatic control means 30 and I prefer to provide means for automatically closing this valve when the pressure in the base of the standpipe (or reactor) is not sufllciently great to give the required pressure differential for returning the spent catalyst to the regenerator and for preventing air (introduced through line I9c) from entering the reactor. As above stated, this pressure differential may be in the general vicinity of 1 pound per square inch or more.

Regenerated catalyst which settles out below the dense phase turbulent zone 20 in regenerator IIIA flows downwardly in standpipe 3| wherein it is aerated by steam or other inert gas introduced through line 32. Additional aeration gas may, of course, be introduced above the regenerator bottom through line 33 by means of suitable distributing means. This steam or aerating gas not only maintains the catalyst in fluent condition but it serves to strip out oxygen-containing gases from the catalyst. Here again standpipe 3i may be relatively long or relatively short and it may be entireLv eliminated since the lower part of tower IOA may itself serve as the standpipe. It is only necessary that the pressure at the base of the regenerator or standpipe 3l be sufficiently great to eii'ect the return of regenerated catalyst through line I6 to an intermediate or upper part of the reactor.

Catalyst from the base of standpipe 3| is discharged by valve or star feeder 34, picked up by 10 steam introduced through line 35 and conveyed by line I6 back to reactor I0, preferably through branch line I6' or I6. The introduction of catalyst into an intermediate or upper point in the reaction zone accomplishes to a certain extent a countercurrent treating effect in the reactor. When the catalyst is introduced at about the same point at which reaction vapors are introduced it is necessary to employ a relatively long standpipe on the regenerator and in this case I may use the reaction vapors themselves for carrying the regenerated catalyst to the reactor by introducing charging stock vapors through line 35a and line 35, injecting the mixture of reaction vapors and catalyst upwardly in the reactor through line IG'" and distributor I5. Similarly, if a sufciently long standpipe I9 is employed below the reactor, the spent catalyst may be returned at the base of the regenerator through line I9d'". A feature of the present invention is the return of catalyst to upp'er points in the reactor or regenerator so that standpipes I9 and 3| may be markedly shortened or entirely eliminated.

Fresh catalyst may be introduced into the system at almost any point but I prefer to introduce it with electrically precipitated ines as hereinabove described. In other words, fresh catalyst from hopper 36 may be introduced by line 31 into the base of precipitator 21 and returned by line 28 to the body of regenerated catalyst in reactor 20.

Vapors withdrawn from above the reaction zone I4 by line I1 are passed through a cyclone separation zone 38 and the catalyst recovered therein is returned by line 39 to the lower part of reaction zone I4. The cyclone separation zone may be a multi-stage system mounted outside of the reactor or inside of the reactor as described in U. S. Letters Patent 2,337,684.

Reaction vapors from cyclone separation zone 33 are then conducted by line 40 to a fractionation system diagrammatically illustrated by fractionating tower 4I from which gas oil side streams may be withdrawn through lines 42 and 43 and from which a bottoms fraction may be withdrawn through line 44 and recycled with feed stock in line Il. The overhead from tower 4I may be passed through cooler 45 to a separator 48 from which water may be withdrawn through line 41. The gases and liquid hydrocarbons from the separator may then be introduced into one or more high pressure fractionation systems diagrammatically illustrated by column 48 from which n light gases are taken overhead through line 49, a

0 line ISC and line ISC'. Return line IQD is provided with a cooler 24a so that in this case the total spent catalyst is cooled before it enters the regenerator IIIA'. Similarly, regenerated catalyst from the base of the regenerator or from an extension thereof or standpipe 3l' is picked up with steam introduced through lines 35a and 35a' and returned by lines Ita and 16a to reactor Il'.

In Figure 2 I have shown an external mounting of cyclones 33' and 38" and have shown the return of catalysts therefrom through lines 39' and 39" to standpipe or extension I9. Similarly cyclones 23' and 23" are mounted exterior of regenerator IIIA and the recovered catalyst is passed by line 25 to the lower part of regenerator or to standpipe 3 I'. Generally speaking, however, I prefer to mount the cyclones inside an enlarged upper section in the reactor or regenerator as diagrammatically illustrated in Figure 1.

In Figure 3 I have shown another modification of a contacting vessel 52 which may be used either for a -reactor or a regenerator. IThis vessel has an inclined bottom wall 53 and catalyst is removed from the base of the vessel through extension 54 to be picked up by gas or vapor and conveyed to another contacting vessel. An aerating gas may be introduced near the base of the vessel through line 55. The air for catalyst regeneration or the vapor for catalytic conversion may be introduced through line 56 and distributor 51. The catalyst may be introduced through line 58 against deflecting baille 59., The

upper part of chamber 52 may be enlarged to-v facilitate the settling and return of catalyst to the dense phase and cyclones may be mounted in this enlarged upper portion of the chamber as hereinabove described in connection with Figure 1. Gases or vapors may leave the top of the chamber through line 60. It will be seen from the above description that I have accomplished the objects of my invention and have provided a system of ultimate simplicity which requires a minimum of work for catalyst transfer. While the invention has been described as applied to a particular process, namely, catalytic cracking, and to operations under particular conditions, it should be understood that itis applicable to conversion processes generally and to a wide range of operating conditions. For catalytic cracking of gas oils I may employ catalysts of the silicaalumina or silica-magnesia type. Such a catalyst may be prepared by the acid treating of natural clays such as bentonite or montmorillonite, or by incorporating a metal oxide, such as alumina, magnesia, thoria, zirconia, etc. with activated silica. One method of preparing a catalyst is by ball-milling silica hydrogel with alumina or magnesia using about 2 to 30% of alumina or magnesia. The ball-milled dough may be dried at about 240 F. and then activated by heating to a temperature of about 900 to 1000 F. No invention is claimed in the composition or preparation of the catalyst per se and it is therefore unnecessary to describe the catalyst in further detail.

In this particular example the catalyst is in powdered form with a particle size of about 10 to microns with about 50% of the catalyst passing a 400 mesh screen. The invention is applicable, however, to other catalyst sizes provided only that the catalyst be. of such size and density that it may be aerated and handled as a fluid in the manner herein described. The vertical gas or vapor velocity in my reactor and regenerator for this iinely divided catalyst may be about 1 to 5, usually about 11/2 to 2*/2 feet per second in order to maintain the desired dense turbulent suspended catalyst phase above the point of fluid inlet in the reactor and the regenerator respectively. Higher gas or vapor velocities may be required for coarser catalyst particles.

For catalytic cracking of most charging stocks the temperature in the reactor should be about '750 to 950 F. and the weight ratio of catalyst introduced through line iEl to oil introduced through line i3 should be about 1:1 to 10:1 or more and may, for example, be about 4:1. This ratio varies with the character of the catalyst and the oil treated and a feature of my system is the facility with which catalyst-to-oil ratios may be varied for controlling the amount of conversion in the reactor. The vapor contact time in the reactor may be about or 15 seconds and the catalyst residence time in the reactor may be varied throughout a relatively wide range depending upon the catalyst-to-oil ratios employed. Usually catalyst residence time will be about 1 to 10 minutes or more. The space velocity may be about 1 or 2 volumes of liquid oil charged per hour per volume of compacted catalyst in the reaction zone (assuming the catalyst has settled and come to rest) although space velocity may be as low as .25 or as high as 10.

By the use of my simple apparatus having low pressure diierentials and substantially the same pressures in the regeneration zone and reaction zone respectively, I can easily operate with high catalyst-to-oilratios at a very low cost. By using high catalyst-to-oil ratios I not only obtain better conversion by the use of fresher catalyst but I store enough heat in the catalyst in the regeneration zone to supply substantially all of the heat required by the endothermic reaction in the reaction zone. In fact, the charging stock may be only partially vaporized in furnace l2 and the heat stored in the regenerated catalyst may serve to eiect the completion of the vaporization as well as the cracking.

By employing a bottom catalyst draw-olif in both the reactor and regenerator and thus superimposing the pressure in these zones on the standpipes or outlets at the base thereof, I have provided an extremely compact system which does not require the extremely high standpipes and complicated separation` systems heretofore deemed necessary in operations of this character. Great savings are effected not only in capital investment costs but in operating costs and I obtain remarkable ilexibility of operation and ease of control.

It should be pointed out that the pressures at the top of the reactor and regenerator may be controlled and held within close limits by pressure controlled valves 6I and 62 in lines 4U and 26 respectively. The control and maintenance of pressures in the top of the contacting chambers is of course a matter of considerable importance in a system in which the whole operation is dependent upon relatively small pressure differentials.

My invention is not limited to the catalytic cracking of gas oils but it may also be employed for other processes such as the conversion of low knock rating naphthas into high knock rating gasolines. For this purpose the entire system may be operated under higher pressures, i. e., pressures of about 50 to 450 pounds per square inch. The catalyst may be chromium oxide, molybdenum oxide. tungsten oxide, va-

nadium oxide or the like mounted on active alumina. In this system the reaction may be conducted in the presence of hydrogen or recycle gas supplied to the reaction along with charging stock vapors.

While I have described a specific example of my invention, speciilc operating conditions, etc. it should be understood that the invention is not limited to such details since other modifications and variations in the system and in the operating conditions will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the above description.

I claim:

1. The method of effecting catalytic conversion and catalyst regeneration in a process employing catalyst solids of small particle size, which method comprises effecting combustion of carbonaceous material in a regeneration zone to maintain said zone at regeneration temperature, maintaining a dense turbulent phase oi' suspended catalyst solids in said regeneration zone by passing an oxygen-containing regeneration gas upwardly therein at low velocity, withdrawing regenerating gas from the top of the regelieraton zone, withdrawing catalyst solids from said dense phase as a hot downwardly moving aerated column, suspending hot catalyst from the base of said column in a stream of hydrocarbons and introducing it while hot into the bottom of a conversion zone whereby the catalyst may supply heat to said conversion zone, passing hydrocarbons upwardly in the conversion zone as a gasiformv stream at such a rate as to maintain the catalyst in dense phase turbulent suspension therein whereby hydrocarbon conversion is effected and the catalyst solids become deactivated by the deposition of carbonaceous material thereon, withdrawing conversion products from the upper part of the conversion zone, withdrawing deactivated catalyst from the conversion zone as a downwardly moving aerated column, cooling said downwardly withdrawn catalyst and introdcing said cooled catalyst into the upper part of the regeneration zone whereby the gas in the upper part of the regeneration zone is contacted with the cooled introduced catalyst before said gas is withdrawn from the regeneration zone.

2. The' method of contacting a mass of solids of small particle size with a plurality ofV gaslform streams which method comprises maintaining a rst body of said solids in dense phase suspension in a first contacting zone by passing a rst gaslform stream upwardly through said zone at low velocity, positively regulating the removal of the rst gasiform stream from the upper part of the rst contacting zone in accordance with the pressure at the upper part of said zone in order to maintain said pressure substantially constant during periods of fluctuating ow, downwardly withdrawing aerated solids as a column from said first contacting zone whereby the pressure at the base of the column is augmented by a pressure head of suspended solids in the contacting zone and the pressure at the top of said zone, dispersing said downwardly withdrawn solids in a second gaslform stream and introducing said second stream with dispersed solids into a second contacting zone, introducing a third gasiorm stream at the base of said second contacting zone at such a rate that the vertical gas velocity in the second contacting zone is sufcient to maintain a dense phase of suspended solids therein, positively controlling the rate of removal of gases from the upper part of the seccond contacting zone in accordance with the .pressure at the top of said zone for maintaining additional step of stripping solids removed from said first contacting zone before said solids are dispersed in said second gasiform stream for introduction into said second contacting zone.

4. The method of contacting a mass of solids of small particle size with a rst gasiform stream 3. The method of claim 2 which includes the in an exothermic contacting zone and a second gasiiorm stream in an endoth'ermic contacting zone, which method comprises maintaining a dense turbulent phase of suspended solids in said exothermic contacting zone by passing a ilrst gasiform stream upwardly therein at low velocity under conditions for eifecting exothermic reaction, disengaging solids from gasA in the upper part of said zone and withdrawing the gas from said upper part of said zone, withdrawing solids from said dense phase as a hot downwardly moving aerated column, suspending hot solids from the base of said column in a second gasii'orm stream and introducing said second stream with suspended hot solids into the bottom of an endothernic contacting zone whereby the solids may supply heat to said conversion zonemassing the second gasiform stream upwardly in the endothermic contacting zone and at such a rate as to maintain the solids in dense phase turbulent suspension therein under conditions for eifecting endothermic conversion, disengaging gases from solids in the upper part of the endothermic contacting zone and withdrawing gasiform materials from said upper part thereof, withdrawing solids from the endothermic contacting zoneL as a downwardly moving aerated column, cooling said downwardly withdrawn solids and introduc-l ing said cooled solids into the upper part of the exothermic contacting zone whereby the gas in the upper part of the exothermlc contacting zone is contacted with the cooled introduced solids before said gas is withdrawn from the exothermic contacting zone.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the flic of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Jewell et al. Sept. 25, 1945 

